DEAR EDITOR:

As a lifelong resident of Youngstown and a taxpayer, I feel I have the right to comment about the unnecessary and barbaric slaughter of white-tailed deer in Mill Creek Park.

Initially, citizens were told that deer overpopulation was a problem. Now that the number of deer has turned out to be questionable, or even irrelevant, the new reason for killing deer is that they are harming the environment. I have yet to see the details of this claim, such as what kind of plants are they eating that are essential to the forest ecosystem and why the park itself continues to manicure and trim vast areas of the forest.

But the worst part of this deer hunt or cull is that hunters armed with rifles or crossbows are baiting and rounding up deer for slaughter.

That’s right, these hunters display the ultimate “unsportsmanlike behavior” in order to kill the docile, magnificent creatures. They start by corralling the deer from other areas of the park, driving into a central location where they can shoot them all at once. It doesn’t matter if it’s a 35-lb. baby deer, born this past spring, or a majestic six-point buck, they are all gunned down like fierce, dangerous animals. In other areas, bait is placed in specific locations to lure unsuspecting animals to their death.

I am appalled that Mill Creek Park utilizes this type of inhumane killing and calls it “wildlife management.”

The citizens of Mahoning County have made it clear we don’t want this kind of activity happening in our park system, yet the park claims to have the authority to “harvest” as they please.

As a taxpayer, I’m disgusted that I have to pay for these massacres.

JERRY SERBEL

Youngstown